[Show name] · Episode [number]: [Working title]

Replace the blue placeholders with your own words and delete the grey notes as you go.

Format

[interview, co-hosted or solo]

Guest

[name, and how to say it]

Hosts

[names]

Target length

[40:00]

Recording

[date, time, place or remote setup]

Publish date

[date]

The promise

By the end of this episode, listeners will [know, have or be able to do what]

Plan a few minutes under the target. Conversations run long. Every segment has to serve the promise.

Segments

One card per segment. Bullets, not sentences: you want to glance down, not read. Copy a card for each extra segment.

Cold open: [the best 20–30 seconds of tape, or one line] · 0:00

Intro: [written out below] · [0:30]

Segment 1: [title] · [start time] · [length] · Lead: [name]

  • Goal: [what this segment is for, in one line]

  • Points: [three at most]

  • Story or example: [the one that carries it]

  • Opening question: [word for word]

  • Lands on: [the line or idea to close on]

  • If running long: [what to drop]

Segment 2: [title] · [start time] · [length] · Lead: [name]

  • Goal: [what this segment is for, in one line]

  • Points: [three at most]

  • Story or example: [the one that carries it]

  • Opening question: [word for word]

  • Lands on: [the line or idea to close on]

  • If running long: [what to drop]

Segment 3: [title] · [start time] · [length] · Lead: [name]

  • Goal: [what this segment is for, in one line]

  • Points: [three at most]

  • Story or example: [the one that carries it]

  • Opening question: [word for word]

  • Lands on: [the line or idea to close on]

  • If running long: [what to drop]

Outro: [written out below] · [start time]

If the whole episode runs long, drop first: [segment] · Never cut: [the segment that keeps the promise]

See a filled-in segment card

Segment 2: How she writes one · 8:30 · 12:00 · Lead: host

  • Goal: her method, so listeners can use it

  • Points: the call with the family; the one detail; what she leaves out

  • Story: the beekeeper

  • Lands on: her three questions, repeated slowly

From an outline for an invented interview show about local newspapers.

Written out

Only the edges go in word for word. Everything else stays in bullets.

  • Opening line: [the show, the host, the promise]

  • First question: [easy to answer, and specific]

  • Bridges: [one sentence that closes each segment and opens the next]

  • Ad read: [if the episode has one, timed to the slot]

  • Outro: [the promise kept, one ask, next episode, credits]

Prep

  • Research: [links to the guest's recent work and interviews]

  • Names: [every name likely to come up, and how to say it]

  • Facts to check: [numbers, dates and titles, before you publish]

  • Off limits: [anything the guest asked you not to raise]

Parking lot

Good tangents to save for another episode.

  • [topic, and who raised it]

  • [topic]

Run sheet

The production plan: clock time on the wall, not episode time. For a live show, the producer works from this.

Clock

Item

Who

Notes

[6:55]

[welcome, phones off]

[producer]

[not part of the episode]

[7:00]

[recording starts, cold open]

[host]

[one clap on mic to line up recordings]

[7:05]

[segments]

[host and guest]

[hard out time]

[7:40]

[questions or ad break]

[who]

[cue]

[7:55]

[recording stops]

[producer]

[30 seconds of room tone]

After the recording

Real start times become show-note timestamps. For YouTube chapters, start at 00:00, list at least three in ascending order, and keep each at least 10 seconds long.

Starts

Chapter title

00:00

[intro]

[start time]

[segment 1 title]

[start time]

[segment 2 title]

Season plan

Episode

Working title

Guest

Promise

Status

[1]

[title]

[guest]

[one sentence]

[booked, recorded, live]

[2]

[title]

[guest]

[one sentence]

[status]

[3]

[title]

[guest]

[one sentence]

[status]

Before you record

  • The promise fits in one sentence, and the intro and outro both say it

  • Every segment has a goal, a lead, a time box and a landing line

  • The time boxes add up to a few minutes under the target

  • The opening, first question, bridges and outro are written out

  • Names and hard words have a pronunciation note

  • Every segment has an “if running long” cut

  • One segment is marked to drop first, and the one that keeps the promise is marked to keep

  • A clock is where the host can see it